A little green in the gills

I am soon to be the mother of five children, so I suppose it is only proper that I get the mother of all stomach bugs. Seriously, the sickest I've been in all my life, or what I can remember of it. The good news is that it only lasted about twenty-four hours. The bad news is, somewhere in the midst of all that, my morning sickness kicked in. Right now, I live on ginger ale and lollipops.

My kids in their tender young ages are having to learn a lot of hard life's lessons. For instance, even if we can't go to McDonalds everyday, they still have to be grateful for the food they're served. Or say, just because they cannot go and play, no live at the cousins house, they still must be content in the home God put them in. I know it's hard. I probably would've jumped at the chance to eat out or go stay with a fun relative when I was a kid. It's all a matter of perspective though. And from a three foot something vantage point, joy in the circumstances is a tough one to grab onto.

So, I'm trying to learn this lesson myself, albeit a little late, but my heighth and age offers some advantages that the kids don't have. I've been around enough to know, that the grass isn't always greener, and might even come with some grub algae which stunts growth in large patches, ahem. And, we should be grateful for the leftovers because at times they were hard to come by.

So, as I lost count for my trips to the bathroom after only about four hours this weekend, I realized that I must be grateful even in this time. God could have stricken me with an illness that was much less temporary and much more life ending. I could get this sick throughout the entire pregnancy as I know many have - thankfully my morning sickness is very predictable (at 6 weeks here, at 12 weeks gone). This virus could have struck at a time when my husband wasn't there or able to assume all of my duties (THANK YOU, THANK YOU!) . Or it could've stricken all of us at the same time instead of just me. Besides that, there are some actual good things, like losing three pounds in six hours - try that without surgery or child birth! Also, it was a little nice to be able to lie in bed literally all day and only worry about resting.

Though this time was hard, there were so many blessings in it still, and by God's grace I'm able to see His love and compassion through it. If any of those other things would've happened, I would have been completely deserving of them and even then I could not cry out against God. I'm thankful for the gentleness of God's lessons, and for patience in which He sustains and teaches me. I hope and pray for wisdom and grace to be able to teach my children the same.